Baquaqua, Mahommah Gardo

Mahommah Gardo Baquaqua was a former slave, native of Zooggoo, West Africa, a tributary kingdom of Bergoo kingdom. He worked in Brazil as a captive; however, he escaped and fled to New York in 1847, assuring his freedom. He was literate in Arabic at the time of his capture, and recited a prayer in Arabic before an audience at New York Central College, where he studied from 1849 to 1853. He wrote an autobiography (slave narrative), published by American abolitionist Samuel Downing Moore in 1854. His report is the only known document about the slave trade written by a former Brazilian slave.